Guest Author, Kat Henry Doran

Today's Guest is Kat Henry Doran, who writes Romance with a Bite, a warm, wonderful and full-of-life fellow Rose and personal injury and medical malpractice investigator I was blessed to meet at the New Jersey Romance Writers conference last year. Kat has also put on some powerful workshops regarding her nursing work as a victim's advocate, including, "They ain't all named Bundy, Dahmer and Gacey." We share the same reading tastes and the same enthusiasm for our publisher, The Wild Rose Press. Welcome, Kat!

Who are you?

I am Kat Henry Doran; I have been writing romance fiction for more than 20 years, first published in 2004 with Wings Press. I am also a wife to one, mother to three, grandmother to three [my most favorite job EVER], a nurse-paralegal specializing in medical malpractice and personal injury cases, and. . . I design and create tote bags and purses.

What type of stories do you like to write and why?

Even though I might not start out writing romantic suspense or romantic mysteries, my stories usually end up with elements of both. I am drawn to characters who practice in the areas of law enforcement/attorneys/medical-nursing professions who, in the course of their daily responsibilities, become involved with disenfranchised/disadvantaged populations. I enjoy researching these populations such as survivors of the political and social upheaval in Central and South America during the 1970-80's. I am fascinated by the culture of the Rom, also known as Gypsies. I tend to insert at least one Irishman [often more] into my books and almost always will have a nun or a priest running around somewhere.

What type of stories do you like to read and why?

I like to read legal and political thrillers. Currently my favorite authors are Vince Flynn, Lisa Scottoline, Eileen Dreyer, JD Robb and Jessica Anderson. I was “introduced” to Lesley Langtree who writes a series about a family of contract killers at RWA in San Francisco. I greatly appreciate authors [and the men in my private life] who make me laugh out loud.

When do you read?

In the evening, before bed.; while waiting at the dentist or physician's offices; while the grandchildren are napping. I used to read in bed. Forget that. If I'm horizontal, I am gone.

Where did you get the inspiration for your current WIP?

For my current WIP, during a critique group session, my partners and I started brainstorming and managed to invent 4 out of 5 “heroes” for an anthology set in Upstate New York, on the shores of Lake Ontario, Queen of the Great Lakes. It's been great fun seeking out locations for the scenes like the [once] grand estates in this area, the lighthouses and piers which extend out onto Lake Ontario, the local elite yacht club, all those wonderful things that add spice to a setting.

Where do you go to think? To a quiet place inside my heart.

How did you come up with your title and main characters’ names? For Captain Marvelous, my current release through Wild Rose Press, I knew from the start I wanted to have the heroine tease the hero about his Captain Marvel decoder ring, so I needed a name to play off that. I also wanted the name to be of Eastern European extraction which some characters in the book would have difficulty pronouncing. After playing around with spellings, Ronen Marvelic was born. I like the persona of Wolfman Jack, an LA disc jockey with a rusty voice; only, I wanted Wolfman to be the heroine. With respect to my fascination with the Rom, I found a Romanian name in a newspaper article: Iliana; that morphed into Annie "Wolfgirl" Wolfe.

How long did you write seriously before your first book was published?

20 years or more, which is not to infer any of what I created was good.

Why do you write?

I was born to tell stories.

Nurse, insurance investigator, forensic nurse examiner, professional workshop presenter, seamstress, author, wife and mother; Kat Henry Doran has been there and done all that--and more.

A native of Upstate New York, Kat uses the years she spent haunting police stations, Emergency Rooms, and criminal courtrooms advocating for victims of sexual violence as background for her writing, which has been described as brutally realistic and starkly honest.

Even though Kat has retired her speculum and no longer paces the corridors outside Grand Jury and police interrogation rooms, she continues to advocate for disenfranchised women, currently through Panties For Peace.

For excerpts of her books and information on the professional programs Kat presents, check out http://www.kathenry.com/